Community Mobilization with FourSquare & Meetup.com

“A reason we may be seeing a growth in networking is because of its use in terms of stabilizing relationships, understanding business climates, overcoming challenges or exchanging off-the-record information in an informal environment,” Mandy Torrens, president of Meetings Professionals International’s UK Chapter said to Meetings Review.com. “In the prevalent business conditions, this can prove invaluable.”

The current economic climate necessitates action and community mobilization. Whether it’s networking online or turning digital relationships into real-world contacts, there is a heightened need to build communities. We will explore how digital connections can translate into real world impact and how users are engaging with an creating digital content.

Examples

Self Publishing Tools — Whether it’s a 140 characters on Twitter, or an update on Facebook , or re-blogging a great design you found on Tumblr, self-publishing tools are becoming more accessible to internet users. Consequently, social networks and blogging sites are seeing a rapid increase in usership. Users are also taking ownership of their content and developing personal brands. Evidence of this trend can be found in the increase of social networking management tools such as HooteSuite.

FourSquare — FourSquare is a mobile location-based application for smartphones like the iPhone, Android and soon, the Blackberry. Users “check in” when they arrive at say a local cafe, book store, park or even a friends house. As more of your friends sign up, you’ll get a better understanding of their favorite hang out spots. Based on your “check ins,” FourSquare can suggest new places for you to explore. And as you discover new places and frequent your favorite spots, you’ll get points and work your way up to “Mayorship” of a local cafe or restaurant or movie theater — wherever you visit the most.

MeetUps — While it’s one thing to post a comment on a Facebook group page, it’s another thing to join a local Meetup. MeetUp.com is a website for community organizers to form groups and host local events. There are book clubs, Harry Potter enthusiast events, local networking events and even bee keeping Meetups. According to Meetup.com, there are 6 million monthly visitors to the site — 5.7 million of those visitors are members. Furthermore, of the nearly 60,000 Meetup groups, there are nearly 180,000 monthly Meetups.

Can you organize a community? For instance, you might want to consider hosting a Meetup to interact with potential clients or entrepreneurs. What about developing a Ning site around your product or adding a Facebook badge to your site.

To further your engagement with the community, consider developing interactive features. Dell offers support help on Twitter and Coca Cola offers a video sharing platform on Facebook. How can you rally your community in a unique way?

Predictions

MeetUp.com will incorporate Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr to increase event awareness and attendance.

Eighty thousand websites have implemented Facebook Connect since its general availability in December 2008. Twitter, Tumblr and other social networking sites will follow a similar path with Twitter or Tumblr Connect. Brands will be able to consolidate all of their social media activities on their webpage.